Evidence of compelling Blogcritics characters - Comments Page 2

The cast: Eric & Dawn Olsen, Phillip Winn, Al Barger, The Theory, Marty Dodge, Jim Carruthers, Brian Flemming, Chris Arabia, Mac Diva, Natalie Davis, Tom Johnson, Mark Saleski, Mike, Hal Pawluk, James Russell, Steve Rhodes, Murphy Horner, TDavid

Blogcritics is certainly populated with a potpourri of characters.

One critic believes there is a racial motivation for nearly everything, another thinks Black Sabbath didn't inspire anybody else musically, another wants to go volunteer in Iraq for two weeks, another has publically renounced her US citizenship over the belief that there is no equality in America, another wants to name his children BRICKLAYER, and several are wondering what happenend to Slash, and ____ (yeah, fill in the blank). Blogcritics is anything but dull, no wonder it is on my blogroll! If you are looking for a quick sketch of some of the more active blogcritics / commenters from the current leaderboard, then here goes:

Eric Olsen - omnipresent, intelligent, contributes regularly and often on a wide variety of topics. Go easy on the tech stuf with him, but then he's got the capable and willing Phillip Winn as admin for the site. Nice guy, very good writer.

Dawn Olsen - strong-willed, unafraid to use profanity and a weblog with two stick figures working it, doggy-style. She doesn't contribute as often as others but when she does, you can expect it to come with a sharp edge.

Phillip Winn - a fellow techie and more than willing to take someone to task if he feels they've posted something factually disputable. Logical, yet headstrong. Leave him an Apple if you get in over your head.

Al Barger - despite the internet connection hex placed on him, he can take the heat literally and dish it out; boisterous, opinionated and not afraid to mince words — or wear garlic — to ward off those evil spirits in the library. Likes to play the devil's advocate.

The Theory - the theory with The Theory seems to be consistency. Lots of comments and posting and a knack for staying at the water's edge of the discussion and never getting too deeply involved. Not a dig, just saying he doesn't stir things up too often. One defining moment for him was when he remarked he wasn't getting many reader comments and yet shared an article by Rolling Stone with the top 100 guitarists and some hundreds of comments later, people are still wondering: "where is Slash?"

Marty Dodge - reports on recent music happenings mostly and has an odd, yet healthy obsession with italics. It is rare to see him offer any commentary, but he posts frequently. He seems to be plugged into what's happening on the music scene.

Jim Carruthers - a Canadian writer with opinions on a wide variety of topics. He comments more than he posts reviews/articles but maybe that just means he loves to read.

Brian Flemming - Might not want to get on this guy's nitpick list because he'll hound you like a pack of hungry dogs, or should I say a pack of Terminators. He's like an Energizer bunny with a lifetime supply of batteries. Selective commenter, critical but often thorough, and will give you a bunch of links, though his research can be contradicting at times. Got to admire his passion, dedication and output.

Chris Arabia - was planning a trip to Iraq to help out for a couple weeks in part due to a challenge issued by another blogcritic; often to be found near political pieces and weighing in on the subject pensively.

Mac Diva - when not overworking a worthwhile topic, she's a solid read. She had a somewhat ugly brush with another blogcritic where she was going to leave the site at one time but fortunately that has died down and she hung around and has kept on contributing. Passionate, detail-oriented and generally skilled in her writing delivery.

Natalie Davis - writes, reads and was/is an editor, with an often cautious, yet selective choice of words and sentence structure; a self-admitted pacifist. Consider yourself fortunate if she comments on your work as she often has worthwile and useful commentary. Might not agree with her political views, but her heart in humanity-related matters seems to be in the right place.

Tom Johnson - self-admitted music lover and enjoys the process of buying new CDs. Unafraid to voice an opposing view or two, especially when it comes to RIAA-related posts — of which there have been numerous by several blogcritics. Intelligent and in control of his writing. Good reviews with his name on them both technical and musical.

Mark Saleski - active music reviewer who recently starting offering numbered "Mini-Listens" which he describes as: a huge pile of musical 'stuff' on my desk...CD's, singles, articles, reviews, notes scribbled down during the drive home, etc. It all goes into my music 'in-box'. To be 'processed' later. His writing style is economical and fairly fluid. Keep your eyes peeled for his regular contributions.

Mike - not one of the blogcritics, but a steady, regular commenter. Seems to enjoy the process of adding a quip or even more detailed response to something that tickles his brain. Humorous at times.

[Doh! Mike corrected me below: he is a blogcritic now! Fixed.]

Hal Pawluk - active in political threads with a penchant for the recent political situation in California.

James Russell - hasn't posted a new article for a little while but is still commenting. When he was posting he leaned toward reviews and news in the movie arena with sort of a semi-sardonic point of view.

Steve Rhodes - was on the scene for the release of the iTunes for Windows launch and seems to be fairly plugged into the Apple scene. His writing is crisp and reader-friendly.

Murphy Horner - Murphy has been contributing posts for more than a year and is a steady, consistent writer who wrote recently: So I've been here more than a year now. I still feel like I have no idea what's going on.. Catchy way to start off a piece! Her style is soft and easy on the eyes. It's somewhat rare to see her offer any commentary with only a couple dozen comments in a year's time, but she is certainly worth a read.

TDavid - hey, what am I doing on this list? You can find my work all over the web by simply googling my name. If you are really curious what I've been up to on the web over the last few years or so, you can read my bio. I've hosted a two hour weekly internet radio show conducting hundreds of audio interviews at Script School since May 2000 (this Friday will be show #164). I've also completed seven fiction novels (unpublished), 100 short stories (fiction, non-fiction and essay) and hundreds of articles, many of which have been published online, covering a variety of subjects but mostly technology-oriented. I maintained a column in an adult webmaster print magazine, Klixxx, for awhile. I have a passionate opinion and am not shy about offering it. Water is my favorite drink. I like rainbows. I believe dreams do come true.

Unfortunately, I've left some blogcritics and commenters off this list. Why? Blame it on a lack of interactivity with those not mentioned or simply my being human and or common oversight. Rest assured it isn't anything personal. Those who might feel even remotely slighted, please don't, because you can assist me with an update of this someday. Help to flesh this list out by writing your own description, assuming of course that you contribute either comments or by posting articles, reviews or entries to Blogcritics and trackback from your blog here. Or my favorite: skip to the front of the line for the always open, antiseptic comment section.

Playfulness aside, one of the reasons I wrote this was so that I could develop a cross reference list of blogs that went along with Blogcritics motto: sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, and technology - updated continuously Some of these blogcritics I've read and never have visited their blog until preparing this piece.

Now I'm curious: how did I do?…